SCS failed to deliver on time - awful experience!

buel10

Hi all,

In brief, I purchased a sofa and chair from SCS in store on 3rd September. They said, and put on the invoice that the estimated time on delivery was 12 weeks, which would have been 26th November.

We received a call on Thursday 30th November to say that it will be delivered the next day on Friday 1st December between 1pm and 4pm. I took Friday afternoon off work (lost out financially) but by 4pm the sofa didn't arrive.

I made many, many calls to both the store where we purchased from and to the warehouse it was supposedly coming from. I explained to both places that I have a 7 week old baby and no downstairs furniture so my wife was having to breastfeed the baby upstairs on our bed all day which was becoming painful due to the awkward positioning. I added that it would only get worse so really needed the sofa and chair as soon as possible.

The manager at the warehouse tried telling me that because his delivery drivers were in a town "an hour and a half away", that they would not be delivering that day. I explained that the town he mentioned was, in fact, only 10 minutes away so it could easily be delivered. The manager then went on to use all the excuses he could - the Christmas lights in the town would make it impossible to get through (I explained that the driver would not have to come through the town at all), that it was too late, etc, etc.

The store said that essentially nothing could be done until the following Monday although they would see about getting it delivered the next day by courier but that it was doubtful.

Needless to say, this didn't happen and because I had a hospital appointment over 60 miles away on the following Monday, an agreement was made for the Tuesday which is when they were eventually delivered.

The SCS branch manager has offered a refund of the delivery if I go in to the store, which, as he knows full well, is over 38 miles away.

I see in the guide on here it states 'If you ordered in-store for home delivery - say furniture or anything else substantial - you won't be protected by the Consumer Contracts Regulations. In this case, get 'em to agree to a delivery deadline marked 'time is of the essence', then you'll get a load of extra rights if things go wrong.'

My first question is does 'Can I have prior' (meaning 'priority') was written on the Delivery Instructions sheet by the salesman at the point of sale, does this count as 'time is of the essence'?

My second question is what compensation can I claim for the day off work, the time spent on my phone and the stress this caused my wife over the next few days (back pain, etc)?

Thank you in advance.

marliepanda

Day off work - yes you can claim

Time on the phone - Nope

Stress of your wife - well, your baby is 7 weeks old, so how has she been breastfeeding the baby until then? What did an extra 4 days on 7 weeks do to cause her such stress and pain that the previous 7 weeks hadnt? Anyway - nope.

buel10

Time on the phone - Nope

Hmmmm.....I think you're wrong on this....but will check.

well, your baby is 7 weeks old, so how has she been breastfeeding the baby until then? What did an extra 4 days on 7 weeks do to cause her such stress and pain that the previous 7 weeks hadnt?

Did you read the post or did i not make it clear? No downstairs furniture so constant breastfeeding upstairs on the bed. It's not rocket science.

buel10

marliepanda wrote: »

Day off work - yes you can claim

Time on the phone - Nope

Stress of your wife - well, your baby is 7 weeks old, so how has she been breastfeeding the baby until then? What did an extra 4 days on 7 weeks do to cause her such stress and pain that the previous 7 weeks hadnt? Anyway - nope.

And this?

My first question is does 'Can I have prior' (meaning 'priority') was written on the Delivery Instructions sheet by the salesman at the point of sale, does this count as 'time is of the essence'?

marliepanda

buel10 wrote: »

Time on the phone - Nope

Hmmmm.....I think you're wrong on this....but will check.

well, your baby is 7 weeks old, so how has she been breastfeeding the baby until then? What did an extra 4 days on 7 weeks do to cause her such stress and pain that the previous 7 weeks hadnt?

Did you read the post or did i not make it clear? No downstairs furniture so constant breastfeeding upstairs on the bed. It's not rocket science.

So she was fine for 7 weeks but that extra 4 days sent her over the edge?

'Can I have prior' makes no sense in isolation. I doubt you could convince that it meant time is of the essence, regardless, it was only delayed by 4 days (one of which was your own making, as you couldnt do Monday or arrange anyone else to be in Monday)

buel10

So she was fine for 7 weeks but that extra 4 days sent her over the edge?

I'm guessing that you don't have children because you just don't get it.
Please allow me to explain it to you: breastfeeding up to that point was done both on the bed in the bedroom and downstairs on the old sofa. However, it was done mainly downstairs on the sofa because hunched over on a bed is so uncomfortable.

Do you get it now? Or more to the point, why is this an issue for you?

Fosterdog

Why did you even need to take a day off if your wife is at home with the baby? Surely it makes more sense to have the person not losing out on pay to wait in? It’s not as if they would expect her to do any of the lifting, that’s their job.

It’s not their fault you don’t have any furniture already downstairs in your house and women feed babies while in/on a bed all the time, as I’m sure your wife does through the night rather than going downstairs just for a feed, so any back pain is either something she is likely to suffer wherever she sits or she’s not propping herself up and supporting herself properly. None of those things are the fault of the SCS so completely irrelevant to the situation.

marliepanda

buel10 wrote: »

So she was fine for 7 weeks but that extra 4 days sent her over the edge?

I'm guessing that you don't have children because you just don't get it.
Please allow me to explain it to you: breastfeeding up to that point was done both on the bed in the bedroom and downstairs on the old sofa. However, it was done mainly downstairs on the sofa because hunched over on a bed is so uncomfortable.

Do you get it now? Or more to the point, why is this an issue for you?

Why did you get rid of your old sofa before having a new one ready? When it is so important to you it would have been wise to have had a squash with 2 sofas than none at all!

You got rid of your sofa pre emptively, all sorts of things can delay a delivery, not least the recent weather. Not SCS's fault.

buel10

Fosterdog wrote: »

Why did you even need to take a day off if your wife is at home with the baby? Surely it makes more sense to have the person not losing out on pay to wait in? It’s not as if they would expect her to do any of the lifting, that’s their job.

It’s not their fault you don’t have any furniture already downstairs in your house and women feed babies while in/on a bed all the time, as I’m sure your wife does through the night rather than going downstairs just for a feed, so any back pain is either something she is likely to suffer wherever she sits or she’s not propping herself up and supporting herself properly. None of those things are the fault of the SCS so completely irrelevant to the situation.

Goodbye negative guys, carry on your SCS support network

marliepanda

buel10 wrote: »

Goodbye negative guys.;)

Stick around, the positive people are on their way. They'll tell you exactly what you wanted to hear!

spadoosh

Id imagine the SCS manager can issue a refund over phone. Encourage that option.

Strictly speaking you might not be able to get compensated for the day off. Its only the second date that you get the payment for i believe. So you would be compensated for taking the time off on the tuesday not the thursday.

You might have success with the wife and baby argument. Id try and word it better though as it just looks like youre solely out for the compo (ok you are but there is better and worse ways of going about it). Im going to say good luck with proving that was their fault though, im fairly confident your OH would have spent the last year or so in a constant state of uncomfortable and aching pains? Im a bloke, my child is 18 months and im constantly in pain from her. Babies are heavier than you think and everyone walks around all macho like making it look easy.

p.s i got sent out to get a wooden deck chair because my OH couldnt get comfortable on the sofa.